"I'm living great without him in my life," Greg Jr. said. "I don't have to be scared every day. That's much better than the way I was living back when he was around."

The elder Lloyd was accused of sticking a gun in his son's mouth in 2001, apparently due to the child's school grades. Two trials on criminal charges arising from the incident resulted in hung juries. The issue did not go to trial a third time.

The younger Lloyd isn't interested in rekindling a relationship with his father. "If he said he wanted to try again, I would say no," Greg Jr. said. "It's too late for that."

Lloyd was an All-Pro for the Steelers in the 1990s. He pleaded no contest in 2004 to pointing a gun at his wife's head.

PFT (http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm)

You gotta wonder what's up with this guy. Normal people just don't do these things.

Captcoolhand

02-07-2007, 09:49 AM

PFT (http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm)

You gotta wonder what's up with this guy. Normal people just don't do these things.
Well I'm sure if the Father was going to do anything it would of happen :yesnod: IMO- Jr should be OK :2cents:

BlitzburghRockCity

02-07-2007, 10:03 AM

I'll never stop being a fan of Greg Lloyd for what he did for us while he played for the Black n Gold. He's one of my all time favorite Steelers.

He's had some issues, and obviously life after football has not been easy for him or his family so I can only hope and pray for him that things take a turn for the better and someday there can be some healing from all this.

Steelerlyn

02-07-2007, 10:24 AM

That is so sad and not because he played for the Steelers but because he is a father first and something horrible happened so Greg jr. no longer has any wish to even see his father. There are ways to discipline and then there are ways to discipline. If he ever hurt his child, I am on the side of the mom & the child. It sounds to me as though Lloyd is not capable of being a real dad.
It takes a man to be a dad.

AZ_Steeler

02-07-2007, 10:57 AM

Capt has a point here... if Lloyd really wanted to do something to his son I'm sure he would have done it. I'm sure he probably regrets doing that every single day of his life and only hopes his son will forgive him and let him back into his life.

Things have been tough for Lloyd... he deserves a break now.

DIESELMAN

02-07-2007, 11:31 AM

For every decision a man makes there are consequences. If he indeed put a gun in his own sons mouth then I seriously doubt theres any forgiveness coming to him. If my dad did some **** like that, he would've gotten a beat down when I got older.....HELL NO on the forgiveness ****.

Friday133

02-07-2007, 11:52 AM

Seriously, how tough can life be for a professional athlete in today's day and age? I don't buy that for a second. If he played for any other team than the Steelers most would consider him an *******.

She says it's scary because Greg Lloyd's father was accused of sticking a gun in his son's mouth in 2001. Two trials in 2004 ended in hung juries and a third was not pursued.

Scary because Rhonda Lloyd's former husband was accused, and pleaded no contest in 2004, to simple battery for pointing a gun at his estranged wife's head in 2002.

Scary because of what Rhonda and Greg Jr. say they and a younger brother and sister went through living with Greg Lloyd Sr., a five-time Pro Bowl linebacker with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1990s.

Like most kids, Greg Jr. says he wanted a father who would see him become the football player that he is today. A father who would see him play college football. But not the father that he has.

"I'm living great without him in my life," Greg Jr. said. "I don't have to be scared every day. That's much better than the way I was living back when he was around."

He has not spoken to his father since 2002 and says he has no relationship with the man. According to press accounts of his testimony at the first trial, Greg Jr. said his father put the barrel of a Glock semiautomatic pistol in his mouth because he allegedly was upset about his 12-year-old son's grades in school.

"He was like, `You're wasting your life away and if you want to ruin it, I can end it for you right now," Greg Jr. said at the trial.

Accounts of the trials are based on reports from The Associated Press, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Citizen of Fayetteville, Ga.

Greg Lloyd Sr. testified at the first trial in Fayetteville, Ga., and denied the story. He did not testify at the second trial. At the time, his lawyer, Ricky Morris, said that "Greg maintains that this is basically Rhonda Lloyd's attempt to get an upper hand in the divorce."

Several attempts to reach Greg Sr. were unsuccessful, but Joaquin Bonilla, who co-owns two Oh Do Kwan martial arts studios in Georgia with Lloyd, says he sees another side of the former NFL player. A black belt in tae kwon do, Lloyd is listed as an instructor on the school's website

"He's a great role model to all the kids here," Bonilla said. "A lot of the allegations were fabricated. They tried him twice, and they never found him guilty. He's a good man. ... The things that went on didn't make any sense. You wouldn't believe how badly he wants to reconnect with those kids. His wife won't give him a chance. All this was so she could get what she wanted. She was making Greg out to be O.J. Simpson, and he's not. She's saying, `He's dangerous. He's going to kill us all.' What she did was a very planned-out strategy."

Greg Jr. says he thinks his father will attempt to contact him at some point. It's not something he wants.

"If he said he wanted to try again, I would say no," said Greg Jr., a 6-foot-2, 209-pound linebacker. "It's too late for that."

Greg Jr. is finishing his senior year at East Ridge High in Clermont, Fla. He plans to major in international business at UConn. He is ready for the future. His mother says he is a funny, intelligent kid who focuses much of his time on family life and his two younger siblings and likes to write. She says he has written a 400-page sci-fi novel.

"What happened, it's not something at this point I have any trouble dealing with," Greg Jr. said. "It's done and over. I guess I kind of get by not thinking about it. What good would it do?"

Drawn To UConn

Greg Jr. visited UConn in early December and went home impressed. He had other schools showing interest in him as a linebacker: Southern Mississippi, Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama-Birmingham, Middle Tennessee and Central Florida.

He decided on UConn.

"What impressed me the most was the system they have set up for getting an education while playing football," Lloyd said. "I want to study international business, and it seems like a great place to do that being so close to New York and Boston. As far as the football goes, I was quite impressed with coach [Randy] Edsall, and the facilities just blew me away."

After two seasons playing defensive end, Lloyd established himself as a linebacker. He finished his senior season with a team-high 154 tackles, three sacks, three fumble recoveries and an interception.

"Everything Gregory has ever done has been based on him and his drive and his discipline and his love for the game," his mother said. "He just happens to have a father that was an awesome football player, so maybe some of it is genetics. I don't know. I think that people need to stop focusing so much on big Greg and focus on the accomplishments that Gregory's made. He's the one that got up and went to practice. He's the one that went out to lift the weights. He certainly didn't have his father to push him."

East Ridge coach Bud O'Hara said he was made aware of Greg Jr.'s situation when he came to play at the school.

"Greg is so mature, he's got his head on so straight that I never had to worry about him," O'Hara said. "I've got a lot more guys on my team that need me a lot more than he ever did, and that says a lot for his character after what he's been through. After I met his mom, though, it didn't take me long to realize where his strength came from."

Difficult Transition

Greg Jr. speaks in abbreviated sentences when describing the abuse he says he and his mother sustained at the hands of his father.

"It started falling apart a long, long, long time ago, long before my parents got divorced," Greg Jr. said. "After they got divorced and I no longer had to wake up every morning and see him, it was like freedom. It was the way I wanted it to be."

In the 1990s Greg Lloyd Sr. was the embodiment of the black and gold of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. He was considered small by NFL standards at outside linebacker - 6-2 and 228 pounds - but his play belied that.

According to Rhonda and Greg Jr., the fiery anger that Greg Lloyd Sr. used for motivation on the field was also a regular part of everyday life in the Lloyd household.

"He had his on and off days where he was a good person or he wasn't," Greg Jr. said. "But it pretty much went bad after he retired."

In 1991-95, Greg Lloyd Sr. made five Pro Bowl appearances and was recognized by many as one of the best outside linebackers in the NFL. He left the Steelers in 1997 after 11 years, then played one year for the Carolina Panthers before retiring after the 1998 season.

A 1997 Sports Illustrated story said Lloyd had four public run-ins with media members, flipping one off, cursing at another, threatening to "placekick" another and shoving one. A Sports Illustrated article in 1996 said he was ejected from a high school game for breaking the leg of an opposing quarterback, and his college coach at Fort Valley State said he had to be kept out of non-contact drills because "non-contact wasn't in his vocabulary."

Rhonda Lloyd said the deep roots of anger stemmed from her ex-husband's childhood.

In a 1996 Sports Illustrated story, Lloyd described the living conditions he dealt with as one of 10 children growing up in his aunt's two-bedroom apartment after being abandoned by his mother.

He said he wore the same pair of pants and shirt to school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and the other outfit on Thursday and Friday.

"If you got anything dirty on Monday, you came to school with the same dirty clothes the next day," he told SI. "The other kids would say, 'You're stinky. You stink.' So that taught me humility."

He also was ready for a fight.

"Back then, all you had to say to me was `your mama,' and I was going to fight," he said.

Rhonda Lloyd said the physical and emotional abuse for her began not long after the couple married in 1988.

"Greg Sr., his whole life was built on rage," Rhonda Lloyd said. "It was all the rage of his childhood. ... There was this rage and hate that motivated him, and that's why he was awesome on the field, because that was where he got to hurt people. That's what his life was about, hurting people. He had a fascination with it, but in a crazy way; that's what made him such a great football player."

Suffering In Silence

Rhonda said she didn't know about the gun incident or some others with her son when she decided to leave her husband. She said around Christmas in 2002 he put a gun to her head and threatened to kill her. She took Greg Jr. and his sister Tiana, now 14, brother, Jhames, now 11, left the house and never went back. The next month she filed for divorce, moved with her children to Florida and her husband was charged with battery for threatening her with the gun. He entered the no-contest plea and was given probation and ordered to enter domestic violence counseling.

After filing for divorce, Rhonda placed all three of the children into counseling, during which Greg Jr. said his father had put a gun in his mouth. The counselor told Rhonda. She wasn't surprised her son had kept it from her.

"You wouldn't understand why he never said anything unless you've been in a situation like that," Rhonda said. "How could I live for 17 years and not tell people what I was going through? You can't understand unless you've been in it. It's a protection mechanism."

In March 2004, Lloyd went on trial for aggravated assault against his son. A mistrial was declared because of a hung jury. He went on trial again a week later, with a charge of aggravated stalking against his wife added to the assault charges against his son, and again the trial ended with a hung jury.

At the second trial, a girl who went to school with Greg Jr. said he once told her that his mother had urged him to "convince" the counselor that he wanted to live with his mother and not his father, according to a story in the Fayetteville Ga., paper, The Citizen. The story also said the judge ruled the girl's testimony inadmissible.

Rhonda said she agreed when prosecutors decided in May 2005 not to pursue a third trial.

"I didn't want Gregory to go through that again," Rhonda said. "To realize that he had to sit up there and look in his face again after what he had been through, I couldn't do that."

Rhonda is proud of how her son has handled his life.

"A lot of kids would probably have turned to drugs ... or whatever after going through what he went through," she said. "Gregory did the opposite. I really think that has to do with his relationship with God and his relationships with his sister and his brother and with me."

Rhonda's voice spikes with enthusiasm when talking about her son's decision to play football at UConn.

"I'm so excited for him," she said. "I'm so glad he's found the place where he wants to go to play football and get a great education. I think he made a great decision."

But it's an excitement laced with concern. She said Greg Jr. can't reapply for legal protection from his father because there have been no threats made against him since before her ex-husband went on trial.

"I'm still in fear. I fear for my children, and I fear for Gregory," Rhonda said. "But he's going to move on and live his life, and I'm coming to grips with the fact that I can't live in fear, which is why I can handle him going to Connecticut. Anywhere Gregory goes, his father could pop up, and that's just a fact of life. It's not a happy fact, but it's what we live with."

Contact Shawn Courchesne at scourchesne@courant.com.

BB2W

02-07-2007, 01:39 PM

Sad article, I hate to read that stuff about someone I liked so much as a kid. He looks a lot like his father...

http://vmedia.rivals.com/IMAGES/Camper/PHOTO/GREGLLOYDNIKE150.JPG

BlitzburghRockCity

02-07-2007, 03:31 PM

He's the spittin' image of his daddy. If he goes on into a career in professional sports and plays with the intensity and tenacity of his dad, he'll do well.

Black@Gold Forever32

02-07-2007, 04:46 PM

Hey Greg Lloyd was one of my favorite players as well growing up. But when I heard Lloyd did this to his son I lost alot of respect for Greg. You just don't do that to your wife or son. But I do hope Greg Lloyd gets rid of the demons that haunt him in his life and hopefully he can work things out with his kids. I don't blame the kids at all for not wanting to have contact with him but I do hope they can work it out. Its just a sad story period.

Maybe that anger that Lloyd JR. has for his father will show up on the football field but if it does I hope Jr keeps it on the field.

By the way wouldn't that be great for the Steelers to draft Lloyd JR?

BlackGold4vr

02-07-2007, 05:47 PM

Hey Greg Lloyd was one of my favorite players as well growing up. But when I heard Lloyd did this to his son I lost alot of respect for Greg. You just don't do that to your wife or son.

Agreed! He was one of my favorites too! I don't respect a man who abuses his whole family! Sticking a gun in his sons mouth? Not something that is forgivable! Sounds like a tough situation in the Lloyd family and one that only prayers could help. Without some divine intervention doesn't sound like there is much hope for these broken relationships.

:beer1:

SteelerSal

02-07-2007, 05:54 PM

Maybe that anger that Lloyd JR. has for his father will show up on the football field but if it does I hope Jr keeps it on the field.

By the way wouldn't that be great for the Steelers to draft Lloyd JR?

I hope that never happens. I hope Jr. never gets angry about it otherwise he might end up like his father. Lets hope that he is aggressive on the field because of heart and desire to be his best each play.
I hope Jr. has been getting help to release the feelings from the abuse he has taken and seen through his childhood so that one day he wont explode and put his kids in that situation.

This is a sad story. Lloyd was one of my favorites also.

BBG7

02-07-2007, 09:30 PM

I think what B@G was referring to was hopefully he takes it out on the field and keeps it there. If he can hit half as well as is Dad....I'd love for him to be a Steeler.
Lloyd was one of my favorite players on the field. It's so hard to hear stuff like that. No kid should ever have to go through something like that (and neither should his wife) I hope that he has gotten his act together and maybe someday in the future get some sort of relationship back with his son (but it looks like if he wants that, he's got his work cut out for him)

Black@Gold Forever32

02-07-2007, 09:40 PM

I think what B@G was referring to was hopefully he takes it out on the field and keeps it there. If he can hit half as well as is Dad....I'd love for him to be a Steeler.
Lloyd was one of my favorite players on the field. It's so hard to hear stuff like that. No kid should ever have to go through something like that (and neither should his wife) I hope that he has gotten his act together and maybe someday in the future get some sort of relationship back with his son (but it looks like if he wants that, he's got his work cut out for him)

Exactly BBG7. I had some things happen to me as a child. But I took my fustration out on playing football in High School and listening to Heavy Music.lol It allowed me to deal with anger in a positive matter.

Plus it was clear Lloyd Sr. didn't leave his anger on the field and he did carry that home to his family. I don't want Lloyd Jr. to do the samething.

BBG7

02-07-2007, 09:47 PM

Everyone has to deal with thier anger and frustrations and it's how you do it that matters. Some people handle it in the right ways and others don't (Lloyd Sr. for example)

BlitzburghNation

02-07-2007, 09:59 PM

Agreed! He was one of my favorites too! I don't respect a man who abuses his whole family! Sticking a gun in his sons mouth? Not something that is forgivable! Sounds like a tough situation in the Lloyd family and one that only prayers could help. Without some divine intervention doesn't sound like there is much hope for these broken relationships.